


Brief Moments

by Baroness_Blixen



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Early Relationship, Episode: s07e14 Theef, F/M, Fictober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-25 23:24:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16670365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baroness_Blixen/pseuds/Baroness_Blixen
Summary: How did Scully tell Mulder she used to be married to Jack Willis for a short period of time?





	Brief Moments

The night drapes them in dark hues, heightens every sense. Scully’s eyes are heavy here in the darkness, sleep not far off. Mulder’s breath is soft against her, his chest rising and falling in rhythmic beats. Mere minutes ago he, much like her, was panting, reaching for the stars. Their love making frantic in the still early stages of their relationship. Their physical relationship, that is.

Scully puts her hand over his naked chest, still completely spellbound that she can touch him like this now.

“Mulder?” She asks, wanting to see if he’s still awake. There’s something she wants to say to him before sleep captures her. She needs to tell him. She’s waited far too long already.

“Yeah,” he mumbles, his voice a deep rumble.

“I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time about Diana,” she says and he moves against her, trying to see her face better.

“What has brought this on?” He blinks a few times.

“I was angry with you because you didn’t tell me about your marriage.” He stays quiet; he knows that much. But this is not what she needs him to know. She strokes his chest, loving the feel of his sparse hair against her fingertips.

“Scully, the whole Diana thing-” she puts her finger on his lips to silence him. She keeps it there because she needs him to listen.

“I shouldn’t have given you such a hard time. Not when I… Mulder, did you know I was married before?” It’s a rhetorical question. She wants to give him five seconds to digest the news. His eyes tell her he had no idea. Not a single one.

“It was annulled. It was a stupid idea and it didn’t last long. I should have told you. After the whole thing with Diana, I should have told you.”

“Why are you telling me now?” She can’t judge his tone, his expression, anything. She searches his face, but it’s blank. She chews on her lower lip, knowing she shouldn’t have waited this long.

“Things have changed.”

“Have they?” He asks, his voice elusive. She isn’t surprised when he puts the smallest bit of distance between them. “Who was it?”

“Jack Willis.”

“Huh,” he says, sounding genuinely surprised. His hand supports his head and he’s looking at her as if he were expecting a tale of love - or a horror story. It’s neither. “Am I allowed to ask what happened?”

“Mulder,” she whispers as if in pain and kisses his lips in desperation. Just a quick one, just to reassure him and herself. “Of course you are allowed. We’re in… we’re having a relationship now. You get to ask.”

“Anything?” She thinks of Philadelphia, smells darkness and cigarettes, tastes cheap beer. Ed Jerse.

“Not tonight,” she replies. “But yes, you can ask.”

“Tell me about Jack Willis then.”

“There’s not much to tell. I was young and I thought I was in love. My parents wanted me to settle down and I didn’t. It was an act of rebellion, eloping with him. It lasted two months.” It’s out, finally. Scully feels free, a weight lifted off her shoulders. It had never mattered before, not really. Now that they’re sleeping together, that they’re joined in every way imaginable, she can’t keep it from him any longer. She never meant to keep it a secret in the first place.

“That’s really…”

“Disappointing?”

“Surprising,” he says with a small chuckle. The smile stays on his lips as he scoots closer again. He just wanted to hear the story, she realizes. He never meant to put distance between them. She lets him hold her, soaks up his warmth. “I never would have guessed. When we worked that case with him, you two didn’t seem like it was that kind of relationship.”

“That’s because it wasn’t. It was a mistake. One we realized quickly enough. It never meant anything to me, but I wanted you to know.”

“Thank you,” he whispers against her lips. “For trusting me with your secrets and your past. Is it my turn to confess?” He is grinning at her.

“You’re not angry with me?”

“Do you want me to be angry? So we’ve both been married. It doesn’t matter. Diana, in hindsight, didn’t mean much. Did Jack?” Scully thinks about it. The relationship did teach her one thing: you can neither hide nor fabricate feelings for another human. She looks at Mulder. She’s never felt anything like this before. She loves him. It’s always been as easy and as complicated as that. She is not ready to utter the words yet. But she knows that Mulder knows. In this one thing he can be patient. For her. His own silent declaration of love.

“No,” answers. “No, he didn’t.” But Jack, like every other relationship, has brought her here. Into Mulder’s arms. How could she not be thankful?

“Time for my confession, Scully.”

“You really don’t have-” this time he silences her with his finger. He’s smiling, his eyes sparkling in the darkness.

“You blow my mind, Scully. When I told you that you keep me guessing, I meant it. I do. There is so much I still need to learn about you. About Dana - you just proved that. And I love it. Just like I love you.” The words come so easily to him, all of them. She smiles at him with teary eyes.

“Thank you, Mulder.”

“You blow me in other ways, too, you know.” He winks at her.

“That is terrible.”

“Hey, it’s late and I’m exhausted.”

“Let’s sleep.”

“Hmm, or we could…”

“Sleep, Mulder. Tomorrow is another day. We can do that and whatever else we want then.”

“Promise?” He kisses her lips, a soft goodnight.

“I promise.”


End file.
